In this electronic age with the widespread penetration and use of cell phones or smart phones as well as small portable computers, individuals and companies have a need for capturing and documenting oral or voice communications between two or more communicating parties. The present system is necessary due to the recent convergence of various trends and cultural factors, such as a highly mobile society and virtual workplace, the expectation of accessing and confirming accurate information with immediacy, and the need to conduct business securely across multiple channels. Phone-related understandings and oral agreements are already a mainstay in the way that commitments are made and communicated. Further, a single party may wish to document an oral communication for various reasons. The risks and rewards presented in this fast-paced, on-demand, and increasingly litigious society can be controlled with reliable technical tools that enhance the immediacy, certainty, on-demand retrieval and enforceability of personal and business communications. There is a need for a system and method that operates as an integrated whole, converging voice, video and data channels. The need is greater due to the use of phone and web communications which can operate in conjunction with one another through computer telephony integration. There is a need to provide users with a set of controls for placing, monitoring, reviewing, managing and processing communications. Further, existing systems do not provide processing options such as trusted archiving, transcription, translation, distribution, certification, indexing, fact checking, profiling and emotional coding.
Present systems lack a communications platform which meet statutory electronic signature law requirements established by federal and state authorities and trade group organizations. These statutory provisions explicitly identify digitally recorded voice and video communications, consensually adopted, as a permissible method to confirm and execute binding electronic transactions and agreements. Under these laws, digital recorded and electronically signed voice files have the same validity and enforceability as their handwritten and hard copy counterparts. There is a further need for a system which provides for the integrated identity verification and authentication of consenting participants. In order to assure that a voice communication is received by a particular individual, a called party, it is necessary in some situations to confirm the identity of the called party. In the past, the identity of the called party was assumed because the called telephone number was assigned to that called party. However, with the widespread use of cell phones, the caller cannot assume that the called party is, in fact, the party he or she intends to transact business with or deliver a voice message to. There is a need for a system to provide on-board, “out of wallet” identity verification and authentication methods enabling a display of a member profile identity to verify such identity with status cues, and a need for a system to log intrinsic communications channel tracking elements before, during and after a certified call such that risk management is enhanced and to assure system integrity and maintain identity verification.
There is a further need for a system to provide users a trusted third party intermediary service, whether on a centralized basis or on a distributed model pursuant to prescribed standards. There is an additional need to provide system access to a variety of communications channels, in various service formats to handle one, two or multiple party calls, outbound, inbound, triggered on-demand, or dynamically integrated with and without customized voice prompts and knowledge base content. A communications platform needs to adhere to electronic signature law requirements pertaining to consent, access by participating users, defined retention and retrieval policies in a framework designed to provide transparency, consistency and accountability. To fulfill these needs, the present invention, or parts thereof, thereby goes beyond ordinary one-party recording systems, providing all participating parties access to certified calls on published terms of service. There is a need for a reliable system to deliver a consistent archiving and certification resource, thereby powering a host of convenient and binding electronic transactions that have legal and evidentiary efficacy equal or superior to traditional written methods. The advantages of such a system support a “paperless” application which also appeals to environmentally minded individuals and enterprises seeking to reduce paper records.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and a telecommunications method, generally deployed throughout a telecommunication system integrated with computer programs and computer technology, to ascertain the identity of all the parties involved in the voice communication, record the voice communication, maintain custody and control over the recorded communication, certify the identity of all parties who participated in the voice communication and authenticate the record itself, and provide documentation and certification of an authentic copy of the voice communication as well as authentication of the participants of the voice communication.
Prior art systems describe various recording platforms and methods for voice communications. See, for example U.S. Pat. No. 7,042,987 to Schwartz; U.S. Pat. No. 6,661,879 to Schwartz; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,668,044 to Schwartz. U.S. Pat. No. 6,987,841 to Byers discloses a method for providing a phone conversation recording system. This system verifies the identity of the telephone number of the calling party, sometimes referred to herein as a first communicating party, and establishes a communication with the called party, sometimes referred to herein as the second communicating party, records the voice communication and maintains a protected web based platform for accessing the stored audio file, deleting it, downloading it, as well as transmitting, via email and a URL (Uniform Resource Link), a communication to the communicating party to permit access to the audio file. Further, the email contains authentication information established by the calling or first communicating party. Byers also discloses a server hosting service and a website for carrying out the same. U.S. Patent Publication 2009/0306981 to Cromack discloses a method and a system for enhancing a conversation.